Set the right leadership foundations
Feb 11, 2025
The start of a new year often provides the perfect opportunity to step back, reassess, and lay the groundwork for leadership success. Q1 isn’t just the beginning of the calendar year; it’s the launchpad for your personal and professional growth.
Over the next few months, our monthly editions of Leadership Unlocked will focus on each of our Four Levers of Leadership Impact, in turn, highlighting key tools and strategies to help you develop your leadership effectiveness and elevate your impact.
This month is focused on your individual impact, the first of our NewlandRock Four Levers model. By intentionally reassessing what you value, what you want to be known for and the energy you bring to your role, you can unlock new levels of fulfilment and effectiveness for the year ahead.
💡 Throughout January our LinkedIn content has been written to help you focus on you.
We’ve shared tools and strategies that help you target your well-being, fuel your energy and build solid foundation for how you lead – without such dedication you’ll most likely find yourself running out of steam come March, desperate for a holiday and feeling frustrated with your work – because true leadership impact starts with you.
Here are a few of January’s highlights to help you craft the leadership foundations that will maximise your leadership impact and effectiveness.
What’s Your Word?
Setting the right tone for your own leadership focus and that of your team can be tough in January. We kicked off our month by considering three key reflective questions to help you to find your one word for 2025.
◾️ What’s working for us
◾️ What has changed around us
◾️ What we truly need next
What word describes how you wish to lead and live in 2025? This one word becomes your anchor and navigation tool for what you focus on and need most in the year ahead.
💡 Now you have this one Word, what are you going to do with it?
The 7 Types of Rest
Effective leadership isn’t just about productivity—it’s also about restoration. The 7 types of rest, as outlined by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, is a powerful reminder of how we need to integrate these types of rest into our routine to not only recharge but elevate our leadership effectiveness and support our mental clarity.
When you’re well-rested in all areas, you’ll be more focused, creative, resilient and ready to lead with purpose in 2025.
With this new approach to rest you are more likely to seize your opportunities and show a vision and purpose for others to follow
5 Ways CEOs can re-energise and refocus their leadership in 2025
For CEOs and leaders of teams, the pressure to galvanise your team into action while juggling expectations and the need for progress can lead to transactional thinking. To help with setting the right tone for the year we shared five actionable strategies to refocus your leadership and bring energy to your priorities.
💡Follow these 5 tips to help set the tone
Modern leadership is often lived on autopilot and blurs our sense of self
These questions can trigger an insightful and essential journey of self-discovery.
💡 Who are you?
💡 What do you stand for?
💡 How do you prioritise what’s most important?
Impactful and fulfilling leadership requires clarity about what’s important to you aligned with strategic opportunities. Outstanding leadership combines being authentic with agility to
drive future opportunities – therefore, there is no room for autopilot if you want to be at the top of your game.
Ask yourself:
◾️ How much of what you do energises you?
◾️ How does your leadership identity align with how you spend your time?
◾️ How much of your day is filled with what feels good and impactful?
Challenging your leadership identity and impact can be uncomfortable.
Letting go of the familiar—like the comfort of a packed schedule or repetitive routines—can feel unsettling.
But breaking free from autopilot offers clarity, purpose, and a chance to lead authentically. You flow instead of freeze. You reclaim your leadership lane. By stepping out of autopilot, you create space for clarity, purpose, and authentic leadership.
📕 Don’t fall into this common leadership trap
Balancing It All: How Do You Stay Grounded?
Even the clearest vision can falter without balance. Leadership demands focus, but it also requires sustainability. To maintain your momentum:
- Prioritise self-care: Rest, nutrition, and mental well-being fuel your effectiveness.
- Set boundaries: Protect your time and energy by saying no to distractions.
- Build support systems: Surround yourself with mentors, peers, and teams who align with your values.
Balancing ambition with self-compassion ensures you’re not just leading but thriving.
Your Leadership Evolution
As you set your Q1 leadership foundations, remember that this process is ongoing. Growth isn’t a one-time event but a continuous evolution. By reassessing, reflecting, and reframing, you’re not just setting goals—you’re shaping the leader you aspire to be and the impact you want to have.
About the NewlandRock Four Levers of Impact Framework
Our CPD-accredited framework is an integrated roadmap created from decades of experience collaborating with senior leaders around the world. Four key criteria emerged as essential in understanding what contributes to their overall success.
This roadmap provides a clear focus on achieving leadership success by aligning leadership strategy with business strategy.
When you take deliberate action across these four distinct levers, you can unlock what’s holding you back from achieving your full potential.
✍️ Download an exclusive extract from my book, Four Levers of Leadership Impact, to guide you through an exercise on defining your leadership impact goal. Get inspired and take the first step toward clarity, alignment and meaningful results in your leadership journey.
Individual Impact: What do you want your leadership to be known for?
Business Impact: What strategic priorities do you want to initiate and drive forward?
Relationship Impact: How do you leverage your range of stakeholders?
Knowledge Impact: When do you seek opportunities to enhance your perspective?
Tips & Tools:
📕 Read the tips in my previous post: The 7 Types of Rest Every Leader Must Master
🎙️Listen to S5 Episode 5 of the Leadership Effectiveness Podcast with Ian Kershaw on the subject ‘Elevating Team Performance with Well-Being Solutions’
📕 Read this post This 3-second leadership tip is so powerful 💡for more strategies to help you create micro-moments of clarity during your day .
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